


of course (it's us)

by kirani



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Feelings Realization, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Sharing a Bed, brief mention of anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Ever since they’d graduated and moved to Haus 2.0, Justin had been missing Holster. He had no reason to! They had bedrooms next door to each other and desks on the same floor at work. They commuted together, ate nearly every meal together, talked constantly. But at the end of the day, Holster went into his own room and Justin missed him.And then his bed broke.
Relationships: Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 89
Collections: Bitty's Valentines Collection





	of course (it's us)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bitty's Valentines 2020!  
> Many thanks to my beta/cheer-reader sweetsoutherncuisine!  
> Giftee, I hope you love this! you said you loved bed sharing and mutual pining and boy did I chock this full of those.

Justin’s bed broke on a Tuesday morning.

He wasn’t even sure how it happened, but when he swung his legs over the side, the frame just split. Holster chirped him about breaking his bed in the most boring way possible but then offered to share his own. Justin made his excuses about using the couch and not putting him out, but Holster wouldn’t back down and he eventually caved to his best friend.

Holster had a queen mattress at Haus 2.0, and while it felt so much larger than the twin bunk Justin had sometimes shared with him at Samwell, it suddenly felt tiny when Justin joined him in it that night. Holster climbed in first, taking the spot by the wall and the air felt charged as Justin pulled back the covers and laid down. 

“Thanks again, bro,” Justin mumbled as he nestled into his pillow beside Holster. 

“Anytime, bro,” he whispered back. “I wasn’t gonna make you sleep on that couch. You don’t even fit on it.” 

Justin didn’t know why Holster was whispering but it suddenly felt important not to break the silence. 

“It’s different,” Justin answered in his own whisper, even as his body relaxed into the bed.

“‘S the same, Rans.” Holster reached out and pulled Justin into a loose cuddle. “Just two bros, cuddling. Let the cuddles happen.”

Justin smiled up at him and let himself be held, pushing down on the weirdness he was feeling for being in Holster’s bed. ‘It’s the same,’ he told himself. 

Because the thing was, ever since they’d graduated and moved to Haus 2.0, Justin had been  _ missing _ Holster. He had no reason to! They had bedrooms next door to each other and desks on the same floor at work. They commuted together, ate nearly every meal together, talked constantly. But at the end of the day, Holster went into his own room and Justin  _ missed  _ him.

There was just something  _ wrong  _ about not sharing a room with Holster anymore, and the more it bugged him, the more he retreated into himself and then felt bad for doing so since Holster hadn’t done anything! He just had to get his head straight.

His subconscious clearly had no qualms about being close to Holster, because the next morning, Justin woke up spooned around him. He took a deep breath and reveled in the feeling of Holster in his arms. ‘It’s the same,’ he told himself again.

Holster stirred and woke up, rolling so he was flat on his back and looking up at Justin. 

“Morning, Holtzy.”

Holster smiled. “Hey, Rans. Sleep alright?”

“Yeah,” Justin answered with a soft smile. He couldn’t remember ever sleeping this well in this Haus, actually. And he’d slept in Holster’s bed before! After anxiety attacks or just stressful days, Justin often sought out a bro cuddle. But those nights, Justin was exhausted and never slept well. Last night though? Oh my God, he had slept so well it was kind of embarrassing. He swallowed it down. “You?”

“Yeah,” Holster answered with an easy smile. “We should get up.”

“You’re right but you shouldn’t say it.” Justin groaned as he hauled himself out of the cocoon of warmth. 

Holster laughed and followed him out of bed. They got ready for work together as always but it felt different. Like they had been living in a different universe briefly in that bed and now he had to step out of it. Justin wanted nothing more to go back. 

He pushed the thought from his head and pulled on his coat.

The day passed in a blur. A big pitch was coming up at work and Justin didn’t have any time to think about the latent feelings of the morning. By the time he collapsed into Holster’s bed that night after staying late and working until well past nine o’clock, Holster had just wrapped him up and held him close. He felt himself relax into the hold slowly and finally looked up at his best friend. 

“Thanks, Holtz.”

“Rough day?”

He knew it had been, he was just giving Justin room to rant if he needed it. God, Holster knew him so well. “Yeah. I’m okay now, though.”

“I got your back,” Holster assured him with a smile. 

“I didn’t have a chance to call the bed place,” Justin mumbled into Holster’s chest. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“Don’t even worry about it, bro. It’s not like it’s some great hardship to cuddle you,” Holster chirped. His chest rumbled with laughter beneath Justin’s forehead and he grinned. He loved Holster so much.

Oh shit, did he  _ love _ Holster? Was that what this was? The missing him from right next door, the ease of falling into his arms, the misery of not being by his side all day? 

“Rans? You okay? You’re kinda weirding me out, bro.” 

Justin took a deep breath, consciously relaxing his muscles and looked up. 

“I’m okay,” he lied. Holster didn’t look like he believed him. He wasn’t yet, but he would be. “Just stressed, I guess.”

“What can I do?” Holster asked.

Justin shrugged. “I just wanna sleep I think.”

Holster nodded and nudged at his shoulder until Justin rolled over, then pulled him to his chest. “You’re little spoon tonight. That’s the rule for stressful days, Ransy.”

Justin chuckled as he let Holster hold him and hoped he would fall asleep quickly so Justin could worry in peace. 

As Holster’s breathing evened out behind him, Justin let his mind wander. He felt so secure in Holster’s arms. He felt at peace here. He loved being held by Holster. He loved being with Holster. He missed him when he wasn’t around. He wanted nothing more than to stay in this bed forever. 

He was in love with Holster. 

The morning dawned bright and Justin woke to find himself laying on Holster’s chest. He had slept just as well after his realization as he had the night before, and it only made him feel more secure in himself. As with everything related to Holster, even things that should cause anxiety did the opposite. A small part of him thought he should be worried that he had fallen for his best friend, but it was  _ Holster _ . Holster made him calm. 

He looked up at Holster and found him looking down at him sleepily. The sunlight peeking through the curtain lit his hair in a fiery halo and Justin fought to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. Even though he was secure in his realization, it wasn’t the time to share it. 

“Morning, Rans,” Holster yawned, and Justin’s heart beat faster. Yep, this was happening. 

Justin took a deep breath and decided to just let it happen. For too long, he’d been fighting this new (ish) urge to look at Holster, compliment him, touch him, hold him. He was gonna let himself do it. 

“Hey, Holtzy,” Justin murmured, staring up at his best friend. He squeezed him a little where he was holding on and Holster smiled at him. “You ready to kick Thursday’s ass?”

“With you? Always.” Holster grinned. 

They got up and seamlessly orbited around each other as they worked through their morning routines. Holster got dressed while Justin used the bathroom and then they switched. Justin started coffee while Holster threw bread in the toaster. Holster grabbed their jackets from the closet while Justin double checked both bags were zipped all the way and handed Holster’s to him in exchange for his jacket. 

As they walked out the door, Justin let himself bumped into Holster’s arm playfully. Holster smiled over at him. 

“You’re the best, Holtzy.”

“Pretty sure that’s you, Rans,” Holster nudged him back. 

Justin’s heart soared and a new thought introduced itself: he could press up just a couple of inches and kiss Holster. 

It wasn’t a scary thought. He almost expected it to be, such a big change from how he’d previously thought about his best friend. But that same calm settled over the new thought, too, and Justin just smiled. Soon. 

Justin spent the rest of the day, through the commute and lunch together at work, through making dinner together with Shitty and Lardo, and through getting ready for bed, absolutely failing to keep his newly acquired heart-eyes to himself. The more he thought about Holster, the more he wanted to never stop thinking about Holster. 

“The bed place is coming out Saturday morning,” he told Holster as they settled in for the night. He’d pushed aside thoughts of prolonging the forced bed-sharing and called the place he’d bought the bed from that afternoon. They assured him they would come out as soon as possible and replace the frame under his warranty. 

“That’s good. Sucks that it broke so fast but at least they’re taking care of it.”

“Yeah,” Justin agreed. “This is nice, though. Getting to hang out with you more.”

Holster gave him an indulgent smile. “We hang out all the time, Rans.”

Justin just smiled back and shrugged. “Still nice.”

He’d come to the conclusion that he shouldn’t make a big deal about his feelings until after the bed was fixed. If it was weird, he needed to have somewhere to go. Not that he thought it would be weird! He had been basically flirting with Holster all day and he was pretty sure he was flirting right back. But his anxiety demanded a back-up plan. He’d know on Saturday.

Friday was absolutely lovely, as far as Justin was concerned. 

He’d woken up to Holster spooning him again and he had basically refused to get up. They’d gotten seats on the train and been pressed into each other the whole ride. Justin let himself rest his head on Holster’s shoulder and Holster had responded by wrapping an arm around him. 

“You can nap on me if you want, bro,” he’d said, tugging Justin flush to his side. Justin had grinned to himself and cuddled in. 

At lunch, they’d been eating in the kitchen and a couple of coworkers invited them to a happy hour after work. 

Holster had been loose with his affection at the happy hour, too, squeezing into a booth and dropping his arm over the back behind Justin. 

“Not enough room for all of us,” he’d murmured in Justin’s ear. Justin had squeezed his knee beneath the table in silent thanks and chatted easily to Paul on his other side. 

They’d gone home together and Justin had eagerly crawled into Holster’s bed. 

“Ransy, it’s like eight o’clock.” Holster regarded him with a chuckle.

“Shut up and cuddle me,” Justin demanded, reaching out for him. 

Holster laughed again, loud and free, before crawling into the bed. 

“You good?” Holster asked, his voice suddenly serious after the big laugh he’d let out the moment before.

“Gonna miss this,” Justin admitted. 

“You’re always welcome to come cuddle, Rans,” Holster promised, squeezing Justin tighter. 

“Gonna hold you to that, Holtzy.” He let the silence sit for a moment before looking up at Holster. “You wanna watch some 30 Rock?”

“Only always,” Holster grinned, reaching for his laptop. 

Justin let himself relax into the comfortable sound of Holster quoting half the episode to him as they lay in bed together. A small part of him was still wondering if Holster felt the same way, but curled around each other like this? It was them. It had always been them.

He woke up to his phone alarm. He didn’t remember falling asleep or setting the alarm, but of course Holster had his back. 

“Gotta get up,” Holster grumbled. “Bed people in an hour.”

Justin chuckled and sat up. “I’ll make coffee.”

The installers worked quickly and his bed was fully functional again less than a half an hour after they’d arrived. He sat on the mattress and stared at the wall. He could tell Holster now, but he was suddenly nervous. Not about them, never about them. But about it not being enough. Holster deserved the world! He deserved to be wooed! Justin would have to come up with a plan and ask him out properly, not just kiss him the minute he could. 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been lost in his thoughts when a knock sounded on the doorframe to his room. 

“All done?” Holster asked when Justin looked up.

He gestured to the bed lamely. “All done. Don’t gotta share your bed anymore.”

“You know you’re always welcome,” Holster said gently. 

“I know.” Justin stood. “Let’s go out for lunch?” 

“Okay,” Holster smiled, wrapping his arm around Justin’s shoulders as he came level with him and walking them out of the house. 

By the bedtime, Justin still had no plan to woo Holster properly. Everything he thought of was too small for the bigness of his feelings. So he hugged his best friend goodnight and went to his own bed. 

Where he laid awake and stared at their shared wall. 

His bed felt too big without Holster to wrap himself around and too cold without Holster’s body heat and too quiet without Holster’s small snores. He tried to put it from his mind, clear it of anything and just drift away. He tried to firm up a plan to woo Holster properly. 

Nothing worked.

Justin grabbed his phone and checked the time. Nearly two. He was never going to sleep without Holster. Maybe he could just slip into his bed and Holster would accept the cuddle. He decided to go for it. 

Justin swung his legs over the side of his newly fixed bedframe and froze as a soft knock sounded at his door. He crossed to the door and opened it. 

“Hi,” Holster said shyly. 

“I can’t sleep either,” Justin replied. “Get in here.”

Holster’s face split into a giant grin and he climbed into Justin’s bed with him, wrapping around Justin and humming happily. 

“Night, Ransom.”

“Night, Holster.”

Justin’s eyes slipped shut and he fell asleep almost immediately.

As had been the case for the last four days, Justin woke up first. As he looked at his sleeping best friend, he realized there didn’t need to be some grand gesture. Things between them were simple, they always had been. They understood each other like that. Besides, Justin had been wooed by this ridiculous man long ago, who’s to say it wasn’t the same for Holster?

“Hey Holtzy?”

Holster blinked awake and smiled shyly at Justin. 

“Can I say something? It’s kind of scary, but just… hear me out. I think you should know.”

Holster suddenly looked a lot more awake and grabbed for Justin’s hand. “You’re scaring me, Rans. You know you can tell me anything.” 

Justin gave a smile he hoped was reassuring and took a deep breath. “I can’t sleep without you. It was only four days, but I can’t do it. And I need to tell you why. Because I never want to sleep without you again. I’m in love with you, Adam.”

“Oh.” Adam blinked. 

Justin gave him a moment to process, squeezing his hand. 

“You are?” Adam asked. 

“Yeah,” Justin said. He was trying so hard not to be nervous but now that it was out in the open and Adam hadn’t said anything he was starting to worry. 

“Since when?” Adam asked at last, his voice cracking slightly.

“I, um, I don’t really know. But I realized it this week.”

“And, uh, what do you wanna do about it?”

Justin laughed, of course this was the one time Adam couldn’t read his mind. “I had hoped to kiss you at some point,” he chirped. “Maybe be your boyfriend if you wanted?”

Adam’s cheeks flushed pink and he nodded fervently. 

“Do you have anything you want to share before that happens?” Justin prompted, cupping his free hand to Adam’s cheek. 

“God, of course I want to be your boyfriend, Justin! I love you, too; I’ve loved you for so long.” He reached out his free hand to wrap around Justin and pulled him into a searing kiss. 

Fireworks burst behind Justin’s eyes. 

This was nothing like that time they’d made out at a kegster as frogs, all sloppy and drunk and inexperienced. This was the kiss of a couple in love, who had always been in love and would always be in love. 

He melted into the kiss as he slid his hand into Adam’s hair. 

They fit together like puzzle pieces because of course they did. They were Ransom and Holster. Justin and Adam. Insta-friends and forever partners. 

Boyfriends.

Of course they were. 


End file.
